課程名稱︰西概
課程性質︰文學
課程教師︰鄭秀瑕
開課系所︰外文系
考試時間︰95中
是否需發放獎勵金：是
（如未明確表示，則不予發放）
試題 :End-of-Session Test 2
Intro. to West. Lit. May 16, 2006
I. Complete each of the following sentences in a few words. 30%
1. When the Prodigal Son comes home, his father has the servants bring the
best robe and put it on him. A robe is usually a symbol of _____ in their
society.
a symbol of status in their society
But recognition, acceptance, love are acceptable.
2. In Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, the seeds sown mean ______.
message about God’s kingdom
3. The night before he is taken away for the Jewish trial, Jesus prays in a
place called Gethsemane: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” The cup that Jesus
is going to drink from has _____ in it.
suffering and death
(A cup is a metaphor for that which is allotted by God, whether blessing or
judgment.)
4. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commands us not to judge, lest we should
be judged also, because we often see the mote in people’s eyes without
considering the beam that is in our own eyes. The beam in our own eyes could
be _____.
our sins, mistakes, prejudice, ignorance, bigotry, etc.
5. Virgil the guide is a very real character in The Divine Comedy. At the
same time, he is also a symbol of _____.
Human Reason (an abstract quality, not something concrete like “guide”)
6. The shadowed forest (usually referred to as the Dark Wood elsewhere) in
Inferno I could mean _____.
ignorance, sin, error, evil
7. In Limbo (Inferno IV), Dante and Virgil see a fire that drives back the
darkness and forms a hemisphere of light (ll. 67-69). Having joined the Great
Poets, they move on to an exalted castle surrounded by the light (ll. 103-
108). This light represents the highest achievement of _____.
human reason, human intellect
8. Inside the castle, Dante sees many heroes and heroines of the Classical Age
and, higher up, “the master of the men who know, / seated in philosophic
family.” This master is _____.
Aristotle
9. Circle II of Inferno, in contrast to Limbo, is dark and stormy with “cries
and wailing and lament” because the souls are blown about by an assailing
wind which symbolizes _____.
lust, carnal desires
10. Cato of Utica, custodian of the island Mountain of Purgatory, has died for
_____.
freedom, liberty
II. Short Answers 40%
Answer the following questions in at most a sentence each.
1. In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God to “forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors.” What could these debts be?
our sins, transgressions, etc.
2. Why are the souls of Fraudulent Counselors such as Ulysses and Diomedes
wrapped in fires with tongue-shaped flame-tips?
The worked in hidden ways, and now they’re hidden from sight.
They deceived with their tongues, and now they’re scorched by tongue-shaped
flames.
(Ulysses’ soul is wrapped in the fire so that no one can see him clearly and
he can’t get a full view of his surroundings. This denies his original wish:
to see and understand the world.)
3. What can the glassy ice at the bottom of hell mean?
the mirror or glass that prevents us from seeing face to face
(sins so heavy that they drag one down to the bottom,
sinners are stuck and immobile)
4. What does Jesus mean by the “new testament” at the Last Supper?
In place of the sacrificial lamb offered up at Passover, Jesus sheds blood
for many for the remission of their sins.
5. St. Augustine does not believe that any man could sin for no cause.
Catiline, for example, did not merely love his crimes as crimes. So why,
according to Augustine, did Catiline practice cruelty and evil when he did not
seem to have anything to gain by them?
Catiline practices cruelty and evil not only because he fears his skills
would rust without practice, but also because he believes that with enough
crimes and evils he could [gain riches and grab power so he would no longer
fear the law].
III. Brief Essay 30%
Choose one of the following questions to answer in either a multi-paragraph
essay or a well-organized long paragraph.
1. Virgil explains to Dante that the souls of Ulysses and Diomedes are paying
for three major offenses: devising the trick of the Wooden Horse, stealing the
statue of Pallas Athena, and baiting Achilles into joining the Trojan War. But
what is the main reason for Ulysses’ ship foundering before they reach
Purgatory? Note that Dante gets to Purgatory as a mortal and returns to our
world after this trip; he describes the base of the Mountain as “the deserted
shore, / which never yet had seen its waters coursed / by any man who
journeyed back again” (Purgatorio I, 130-132).
[No complete answer is given here, only a few points adapted from student
essays.]
External Evidence:
Ulysses is a heathen, so he could not reach Purgatory, where Catholics expiate
their sins.
Ulysses is Greek, and therefore hated by Dante, who considers himself a
descendant of Trojans.
[In fact Socrates, a Greek himself, considers Odysseus to be someone “who
pretends to be wise but is not,” in the same class as Sisyphus.]
Internal Evidence:
Before entering Purgatory, Dante has been to Inferno, where he goes down
circle by circle until he reaches the bottom, which means he keeps exploring
his inner heart and reflects on his own sin, becoming more erect and temperate
as he goes along.
Ulysses can never get to Purgatory if what he wants is fame [or even
knowledge] rather than truth. He does not go through spiritual changes like
Dante [or Achilles].
Ironically, the name that Ulysses journeys under is that of knowledge, yet
the force that brings him down is one that he does not know, and sadly, one he
would never get to know.
2. Why does Jesus predict Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial? What do we
learn about his relationship with these two disciples from these predictions?
These predictions of Jesus somehow prove the weakness of human beings. We
cannot resist mortal temptations even though we believe
that we are able to overcome them. In Matthew 26, Jesus asks Peter, James and
John to stay awake and pray; however, they keep falling asleep. Although
Jesus is a little disappointed, he says, “the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak.” Peter actually doesn’t believe that he would deny Jesus
for three times, so when he finds Jesus’ prediction come true, he feels
ashamed of his inconstancy. So does Judas, who betrays Jesus for thirty
pieces of silver. But he feels guilty of it afterwards and repents of having
betrayed the innocent blood. The money, in fact, may not have been so
important to him; he just couldn’t keep himself from practicing such evil.
Therefore Jesus sacrifices himself to atone for human sins caused by pursuing
the so-called lesser goods. In making these predictions, Jesus actually
sympathizes with his disciples instead of blaming them because he knows they
are not making the mistakes out of depravity. Jesus may hope to deepen his
disciples’ spiritual understanding by pushing them to face the fact that
every human sins, his own disciples included, and they have to follow the will
of god to cleanse themselves of sins.
Just like other predictions Jesus had made previously, he predicted Judas’
betrayal and Peter’s denial because these incidents had been written down in
the scriptures.
If Jesus never made the prediction, Judas might just flee away thinking that
Jesus never knew it was him. It is the same with Peter. Had not Jesus
predicted, Peter might just flee with the other disciples, not thinking more
deeply about what he’d done.
If not for the words Jesus tells them previously, Judas may not regret
betraying Jesus. He may take the silver and enjoy the wealth. Also, if not
for his prediction, Peter may not shed his bitter tears.
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